05 March 2009, 18:45
xgruntThis will make you sick
See this web site for ratings:
http://oversight.house.gov/doc...s/20071213131834.pdf>
> Americans gave millions of dollars in the past year to veterans
> charities designed to help troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, but
> several of the groups spent relatively little money on the wounded,
> according to a leading watchdog organization and federal tax filings.
>
> Eight veterans charities, including some of the nation's largest, gave
> less than a third of the money raised to the causes they champion, far
> below the recommended standard, the American Institute of Philanthropy
> says in a report. One group passed along 1 cent for every dollar
> raised, the report says. Another paid its founder and his wife a
> combined $540,000 in compensation and benefits last year, a Washington
> Post analysis of tax filings showed.
>
> Richard H. Esau Jr., executive director of the Military Order of the
> Purple Heart Service Foundation, based in Annandale , said the cost of
> fundraising limits how much his group can spend on charitable causes.
> 'Do you have any idea how much money it costs to advertise? It's
> unbelievable the amount of money it takes to advertise in the print
> and electronic media,' he said. 'I'm very proud of what we do, and we
> certainly do look after everybody. The point is we do the right thing
> by veterans.'
>
> Borochoff said many veterans charities are 'woefully inefficient, '
> spending large sums on costly direct-mail advertising. 'They
> oversolicit. They love to send out a lot of trinkets and stickers and
> greeting cards and flags and things that waste a lot of money that
> they get ittle return on,' said Borochoff, who plans to testify before
> Congress today.
>
> The philanthropy institute gave F's to 12 of the 29 military charities
> reviewed and D's to eight. Five were awarded A-pluses, including the
> Fisher House Foundation in Rockville , which the institute says
> directs more than 90 percent of its income to charitable causes.
>
> One group received an A, and one received an A-minus.
>
> Jim Weiskopf, spokesman for Fisher House, said the charity does not
> use direct-mail advertising. 'As soon as you do direct mail, your
> fundraising expenses go up astronomically, ' he said.
>
> One egregious example, Borochoff said, is Help Hospitalized Veterans,
> which was founded in 1971 by Roger Chapin, a veteran of the Army
> Finance Corps and a San Diego real estate developer. The charity,
> which provides therapeutic arts and crafts kits to hospitalized
> veterans, reported income of $71.3 million last year and spent about
> one-third of that money on charitable work, the philanthropy institute
> said.
>
> In its tax filings, Help Hospitalized Veterans reported paying more
> than $4 million to direct-mail fundraising consultants. The group also
> has run television advertisements featuring actor Sam Waterston, game
> show host Pat Sajak and other celebrities.
>
> Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the Better Business Bureau,
> said the agency has 20 standards for reviewing charities, including
> that a charity's fundraising and overhead costs not exceed 35 percent
> of total contributions.
>
> The American Institute of Philanthropy, a leading charity watchdog,
> issued a report card this month for 29 veterans and military
> charities. Letter grades were based largely on the charities'
> fundraising costs and the percentage of money raised that was spent on
> charitable activities. The charities that received failing grades are
> in bold type.
>
Air Force Aid Society (A+)
American Ex-Prisoners of War Service Foundation (F)
American Veterans Coalition (F)
American Veterans Relief Foundation (F)
AMVETS National Service Foundation (F)
Armed Services YMCA of the USA (A-)
Army Emergency Relief (A+)
Blinded Veterans Association (D)
Disabled American Veterans (D)
Disabled Veterans Association (F)
Fisher House Foundation (A+)
Freedom Alliance (F)
Help Hospitalized VeteransSalute America's Heroes (F)
Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund (A+)
Military Order of the Purple Heart Foundation (F)
National Military Family Association (A)
National Veterans Services Fund (F)
National Vietnam Veterans Committee (D)
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society (A+)
NCOA National Defense Foundation (F)
Paralyzed Veterans of America (F)
Soldiers' Angels (D)
United Spinal Association' s Wounded Warrior (D)
USO (United Service Organization) (C+)
Veterans of Foreign Wars and Foundation (C-)
Veterans of Vietnam War & the Veterans Coalition (D)
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (D)
VietNow National Headquarters (F)
World War II Veterans Committee (D)
19 April 2009, 03:34
Doc224/375You know how I personally take care of service personnel ?.
I'll give you an example from about two weeks ago .
I was in the local Lowes home improvement center a Navy Petty Officer 3 class was in front of me
I instructed the girl cashier to put his bill on mine , as his money wasn't needed .
She looked at me funny like , the Sailor turned around and before he could say anything
I said thank you for your service as it's my privilege .I've been there before !. He asked what
grade or rank were you in the Navy sir ?. Sargent E 7 Rangers Screaming Eagles .
That's that's the Army Sir he kind of stumbled saying it . I laughed and said I was painfully aware
of that fact . I thank you and then he snapped to attention and I saluted him back .
That did me far more good than he will ever know and was a bargain at a little over $50.00 .
From time too time I do things like that , so I know THEY got the benefit from it !.
